


Out Of This World

by ObliviousIero



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alien Cultural Differences, Alien!Mikey, Aliens, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Dubious Morality, M/M, Mentions of War, Mildly Dubious Consent, Misunderstandings, Podfic Welcome, Teen!Frank, Tentacle Sex, Tentacles, alien!Gerard, space
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2017-02-15
Packaged: 2018-08-12 20:05:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7947280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObliviousIero/pseuds/ObliviousIero
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frank Iero is just a normal teenage punk who gets abducted by an alien. Somehow love happens.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Abducted.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooooo this is something I've been cooking up for awhile due my friend and I being losers and what was a joke turned into an pretty neat story. There's a bunch of chapters already written but updates are gonna be like once a week or so. Just so I can keep up.
> 
> So yeah tell me if you like it.

Frank has no idea how he got here.   
  
Wherever ‘here’ is, that is. When he first woke up, he thought maybe he was in the hospital….again, but he didn’t remember being sick for the billionth time or doing anything stupid. In fact, the last thing he definitely remember was walking home from his high school’s homecoming dance. Or at least, he was walking home, really it wasn’t that late at night. He had only gone to the thing since his school asked his band to play. Once they were done, he bounced.

 

Well, he begged for the spot and promised to only play decent music. 

 

_ Maybe I got hit by a car? _ He thought, looking around, but this didn’t look like any hospital he’s been to. And there’s only two around town. 

 

He couldn’t move, but he could shift his eyes around. And apparently talk since he let out a tentative, hello, into the empty room. There was just blank, almost metallic looking walls surrounding him. The bed, or rather table, he was on was clearly made of metal. Cold and very uncomfortable. He tried moving something, a limp or fingers, but nothing. Nothing didn’t really hurt either. 

 

What the hell was going on then?

 

Frank wasn’t sure how long he was there, trying to figure out what the hell was going on and why he was in a empty, blank room that was definitely not a hospital when one side of the wall suddenly shifted. It was like something straight out of Star Trek or something, the wall just, lifted up and something- someone?- walked in. 

 

Frank blinked, sure that his mind was fucking with him when the person walked in. They seemed taller than him, and were wearing a disturbingly familiar suit. Except it was blue, fucking blue, which matched nicely with his light blue skin. That’s right, this guy had blue fucking skin and as he got closer to Frank, the teenager noticed that his eyes were weird too. At first they were hazel, then they turned a dark brown for a few moments before going back to hazel.   
  
“Uh, hi?” Frank spoke, wanting to sink further into the table as the strange blue guy leaned over the table looking at him. He looked….mostly normal. Minus the skin, freaky eyes, his ears were kinda pointy too, and the fact that there was something just  _ off _ about him. 

 

The stranger didn’t respond, but he did tilted his head and scrunch his face a little, like he was confused. His eyes also turned brown again.    
  
“Where am I?” Frank tried asking, wishing he could sit up. No response. “Hello? Do you speak English? Where. Am. I?”   
  
Now he was getting annoyed, maybe this was a dream or something, but Frank hated being ignored. And stared at. Seriously, this person has not blinked the entire time they’ve been looking Frank over. Frank opened his mouth to say something more, or maybe cuss this guy out, but he reached forward and grabbed Frank’s top lip, pulling slightly. 

 

Frank did what anyone else would do.

 

He started yelling.

 

“What the hell, stop!” He yelled, words a little jumbled from the guy who was continuing to  _ mess with his lips. _ He poked and touched the bottom one as well, and when Frank tried closing his mouth, he just pried it back open with strength that was definitely not human. 

 

Frank made weird, possibly animal dying-like noises, trying to A. close his mouth again and B. demand that Weird Blue Guy stop messing with his face, but then things got even stranger. 

 

Frank’s eyes widened as something else caught his attention. There was something behind the weird guy, peeking over his right shoulder. It was long, an odd aqua-green type color and the only thing that came to mind as to where Frank could have seen that was from ocean documentaries with octopi and the one time his friend Toro showed him tentacle porn.    
  
Frank tried to struggle more, but was still pretty much paralyzed, as another one made an appearance over the left shoulder. The first to come into view was getting closer to him, to his face, where his mouth was still being held open and  _ shit it was definitely going for his mouth. _

 

Frank straight up screamed, before it was cut short by the...the thing, the  _ tentacle  _ entering his mouth and pressing against his tongue. It was weird and tastes like skin and honestly Frank was two seconds away from throwing up. The guy above him seemed to be concentrating pretty hard on Frank’s face as the appendage kept pushing against Frank’s tongue, which was of course pushing back cause,  _ hello _ , he wanted it out of his mouth.

 

When it pressed further into his mouth, successfully triggering Frank’s gag reflex, causing him to cough and sputter, it was gone. He continued coughing afterwards though, unable to sit up or anything, which meant now he was definitely choking on his spit a little bit. 

 

The stranger noticed this and frantically reached for Frank’s shoulders, pulling him up. The teen still couldn’t move, but his body was apparently pliable. When his coughing simmered down, and he was just breathing heavy, he looked up to see that Blue Guy had a look of worry and now his eyes were grey. 

 

“What the hell was that for?” Frank asked, glaring at him.    
  


The guy didn’t say anything, just started looking over Frank entirely again and let one of his hands start moving down his chest, tugging at the fabric of his own suit jacket.   
  
“Whoa, hey! Knock it off.” Frank tried moving his arms to stop whatever was about to happen, his fingers kind of twitched, but that was it. The tugging turned into straight pulling and there wasn’t long until a tearing sound could be heard. “Hey! This my only su- what are you doing?

 

Blue Guy used both hands to get rid of the jacket at this point, carelessly dropping the fabric to the floor. Frank kept trying to get his damn body to move, so he could maybe sucker punch this guy and then run away, but so far it was still only finger twitching. 

 

Soon the shirt was next and Frank was helpless to do much then make verbal protests at that too was torn to shreds off his body and dumped to the side.    
  


“This is a dream, this a fucking dream.” He muttered to himself, shivering as the air hit his newly exposed skin. 

 

Next thing he knew, he was being pushed back onto the table and  _ oh hell no _ , the tentacle was back. With its friend. Both appendages were clearly coming from the guy’s back, and now they were running themselves over Frank’s torso. He felt a little grossed out, especially cause one of those was just in his mouth. They started poking at him, prodding his sternum, his stomach, and Frank made a weird, squeaky noise when one dipped into his belly button. He was beyond complaining now, now he was just focusing on getting more than his fingers to twitch slightly. 

  
  


The stranger kept on with their assault, taking a new interested in the teenager’s nipples. Both appendages poked them at first, then started rubbing them noticing a new reaction as the nubs hardened under its touch. Frank had to bite his bottom lip, trying to suppress involuntary noises that were threatening to spill that were not appropriate for this situation. 

 

Thankfully, the tentacles eventually moved on. Not thankfully, they were going lower again and the second Frank felt them on his pants, he started yelling again.    
  
“No! No no no no no!” He cried, he got movement in one hand, and started slapping the table top. 

 

The stranger jumped, and frown, looking at Frank’s hand. The tentacles move away, and Frank let out a sigh of relief, hoping it was over. The Blue Guy’s eyes were brown again as they looked at Frank’s face, and he reached forward for him, causing Frank to flinch and shrink back.

 

The first real contact of his hand lying flat against the side of Frank’s face was weird. Frank couldn’t see the room anymore, his eyes blacked out for a couple seconds. However, he did feel the fear and worry he was already experiencing intensify until the guy’s hand was suddenly jerked away from him.

 

Once his vision came back to him, Frank blinked against the bright light of the room to find his focus back on the stranger. Who looked horrified as he stared at his hand, before shifting his gaze back to Frank. There was a long pause between them, before he reached out again and Frank wanted nothing more than the ability to run away, shutting his eyes for whatever was about to happen. 

 

Only to be unable to open them again.


	2. Mayday, this is not a dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished another chapter so I figured, why not post one then??
> 
> Quick F.A.Q  
> 1\. This isn't just a smut story, in fact it is a bit of a slow build before real sexual things happen. Forewarning.  
> 2\. Gerard's tentacles are as long as whatever is convenient for the writer (AKA me) because she sucks.  
> 3\. There is gonna be lots of questionable things in this story. I'll put down warnings before things that are potentialyl triggering, at any time, if I don't warn for something y'all think needs a warning. Feel free to tell me and I'll add it.  
> 4\. Comments encourage me and boost my ego so please tell me y'alls thoughts. Positive and negative.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

When Frank came to again, he wasn’t in the blank room anymore.    
  
He also wasn’t in bed like he was hoping.   
  
No, this room was darker, and he was on something much more comfortable than a metal table. The first thing he did was sit up, glad that he seemed to have the ability to move, but everything from earlier seemed fuzzier. He couldn’t remember it clearly at all, the only things he knew was there was some blue guy with tentacles, his suit being ruined, and the blank room. 

 

Frank looked down at himself. Well, he was wearing a shirt again. A grey tee it looked like, and his pants had been replaced with ones that seemed to be the same color and material as the shirt. For some reason it kind of reminded him of prison clothes. 

 

He looked around, taking in more details. The room before had blank walls, this one looked more tiled. There was some random machines around it, that he couldn’t figure out what they did exactly. What he was sitting on seemed like a round, odd sort of bed. It was like a giant cushion really. There was also a window.   
  
A window that was looking out to the stars. Frank figured that meant it was night.   
  
Also,  _ window _ meant  _ outside _ which meant, hell yes he was getting out of here.

  
Quickly getting up, Frank ran up to it. He was going to either figure out how to open it or fuckingr break-   
  
Wait, what.   
  
He looked out the window in horror. There was nothing other  _ but _ stars and black… sky? If he didn’t know better, he’d say he was looking at the middle of space. He pressed his hand against the glass, pressing on it, knocking on it. It felt strong and thick, and he stepped away.   
  
“Am I still dreaming? Is this a trick?” He muttered to himself, and looking around.    
  
There was a door, at least, he figured it was a door. There was a space where it was just a tall, rectangle with no tiles and there was a panel next to it. Frank went for that next, looking over the door. He tried pressing against it, to push it open. He tried hitting it, kicking it, and even attempting to slide it to the side.    
  
He looked over at the panel and groaned. He wasn’t some spy who can hack shit, he’s just a teenager who possibly is vividly dreaming way too well. Or stepped into the Twilight Zone.    
  


Still he pressed against it, it didn’t even light up or make noise. He used his fingers, his palm, his fist….nothing.    
  
“Open the fuck up!” Frank screamed, frantically attacking the door again with both hands. 

 

The door suddenly zipped upwards, opening up and letting light stream in. And Frank would have jumped for joy and ran out.   
  
But his path was blocked by the guy from earlier.

 

Letting out a yelp, he flinched and took a couple steps backwards. Almost falling on his ass.   
  
“You.” He whispered, eyes widening. 

 

The stranger walked into the room, and Frank took a step back for everyone he took forward until he finally stopped, tilting his head as if confused as to why Frank was trying to stay away from him. He paused for a second, staring blankly before his face kinda twitched and he was giving a odd, and honestly creepy kind of crooked smile at Frank. The teenager didn’t get what he was trying to do or what he wanted with him, but he did notice something.   
  
The door was fucking open.   
  
Frank looked from the open door to the blue guy a couple times before rushing forward.    
  
~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Gerard looked over his diagrams and books, confused. He hasn’t meant to scare the terrestrial that he had brought onto the ship. He just wanted to learn more about his species. It’s not like he was planning on dissecting him or something. A lot of earth books already contain the secrets and parts of an ‘homo sapien.’ Or humans as they apparently call themselves. 

 

Sure books told him a lot of things, but the real thing is always much better to observe and study as opposed to words and pictures. He had tried a couple times, but he didn’t look anything like the beings on the planet. They always looked at him strangely and he gets nervous. So he leaves before he can get any real work done. 

 

Honestly, he just picked a random place and observed it for awhile a few times before finding a place he liked. The people in this region were pretty diverse and interesting. Not that anywhere else wasn’t like that, but there was something just drawing him here. 

 

Of course took awhile for him to actually take a subject. Gerard wasn’t really one for the whole, abduction thing, but he didn’t have much of a choice at this point. He finally got the courage to do it, finding a target that was perfect while going over his observatory of the area. He knew he needed a young specimen, one that would be able to adjust to his way of communication. Unlike the humans, his species was completely non-vocal. They couldn’t make noise with their mouths, they used their brains, so to speak. Telepathy was the best way he could describe it in an earthly sense. 

 

Of course, not too young. He needs someone who can comprehend what he’s saying. Plus he couldn’t take care of them completely. If he took a youngling that couldn’t survive on its own for the most part, he’d surely kill it. Plus it’s caregivers would probably be very upset. Seemed like humans stayed together a lot longer until becoming more independent than Gerard was used to. 

 

The only other thing was he needed to make sure that they were completely alone when he….pick them up. 

 

He had snuck up behind this terrestrial and simply knocked him out with his telepathy. Once they were back on the ship, he also temporarily rendered him immobile. Just do he could do a quick examination over his body and possibly find out a little more. He was expecting a little protest, but it wasn’t like he was  _ hurting _ him. Sure, he might have been very loudly complaining, but from what Gerard knew about the area, the beings there were always loud. He figured it was normal. 

 

However, when he starts slapping the table, it scared the pus out of Gerard and got his attention. Mostly cause he really shouldn’t have been able to recover any movement that quickly. Which was interesting.

 

Gerard wasn’t completely sure how to read emotion on a human’s face yet, so he just went the easy route of looking at the basics of the human’s emotion simply through their mind. Of course it was to Gerard’s surprise that he was so scared and worried about what was Gerard doing. He knocked him back out just to stop him from panicking anymore. He also decided to wait before completing the exam until he had better cooperation.

Which is what led him to this now. He hadn’t been paying attention to the human’s words, so he couldn’t really say what the terrestrial had said before. Right now, Gerard was trying to study more social cues in communicating and making sure he had updated records on how the language called “English” was spoken. He knew a lot of languages, especially just from this planet. He didn’t think one could have so many. Granted, he also knew a lot that weren’t used anymore.

 

He’s been studying this planet for a long time, okay? It’s only the fifth one beyond his own that he found intelligent life. Only the second he could figure out how to communicate back with.    
  
Also the only one that remained to interest him for so long. 

 

He practiced over a few of the things he was reading, trying to form the words in his head so he could send them to the being and hopefully they’ll get along okay. He already hated having to randomly take this being from their home planet without proper permission or anything, he didn’t want to have them miserable and afraid. Humans were prone to depression apparently. 

 

He was trying the smile thing too, when he heard some commotion. 

 

His head snapped up from the book he was mimicking. The terrestrial was awake again, and from the sounds of it he has been for awhile. Gerard quickly closed his books and sort of made his table a little neater before leaving his lab. He didn’t want it to hurt itself, or cause damage to his ship.

 

“Open the fuck up!” Gerard scrunched his face, it was being loud again. He was gonna have to fix that, he liked quiet. His  _ species _ was entirely silent for a reason. Their ears were sensitive.   
  
Gerard pressed an appendage against the panel and sent some energy to it, opening the door. 

 

The being was right in front of the door, and much to Gerard’s disappointment it made an odd noise and had flinched away from him again. Gerard tried to get closer again, so he could make contact and explain, but the terrestrial kept backing away from him. So he tried the next best thing he could think of.   
  
He tried to smile, hoping it would show that he meant no harm. 

 

It didn’t work, the human was still very clearly afraid and possibly confused. Maybe Gerard wasn’t doing it right? He tried to think of something else, but out of nowhere the human rushed him.   
  
Wait, no, not him. 

 

Gerard had braced himself for impact back, but it never came. The human had darted around him and was now loose on the ship. 

 

Gerard took a moment to recover from the shock before running after him. 


	3. Interaction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
> 
> They speak in this.
> 
> Sorta

Frank ran down the hallway, hoping to find an exit or manage to wake up from this ridiculous dream. He was sure if he got caught, whatever happened earlier would be a million times worse.   
  
And on the off chance this wasn’t a self-induced nightmare, he really did not feel like being probed by some blue alien shithead. 

 

He was sure now, he was in space or something. Cause everything just looked like some kind of Star Trek bullshit as he rounded a corner and leaned against a wall to catch his breath. He could hear feet coming up after him, but he had a second to pause before he ran down this next corridor trying to lose Blue Guy. He hadn’t passed anymore open doors, there wasn’t even vents for him to try to pry open and use. 

 

Alien Isolation totally lied to him, he’s never trusting video games again. 

 

Frank vaguely wondered why he wasn’t be yelled at, or shot at with some kind of crazy lazer gun thing. He knew he was being pursued, but at least he seemed to be faster. 

 

Of course since life hates him, and apparently Frank cannot survive in a Sci-Fi horror, he ends up in a hall that leads to a dead end. There was a door, to the right. It had another panel and Frank tried to figure it out again. Hoping that maybe, with some miracle, he could find the code or hack it or something. Or maybe if he was quiet, the alien would just run by this particular hallway and not see him. He jabbed and pressed at the panel, nothing. It didn’t beep or light up, and Frank was growing more and more frustrated. He raised a fist, ready to punch it, probably smash the thing to bits when something wrapped around his wrist.

 

He had about two seconds to realize it was tentacle, and a few more to scream before he was being turned, his other wrist ensnared and was pressed against the wall and lifted slightly. The balls of his feet were still thankfully on the ground. He went to yell, protest,  _ something _ but ended up with a third tentacle covering his mouth. 

 

_ Since when was there a third? _ He thought briefly before realizing now was so not the time.

 

Frank glared at the alien, trying to get his hands free and give muffled insults to it. He was not going to be eaten or probed or whatever without a fight. When the alien reached out with a, thankfully, normal hand. Frank attempted to kick at it, but it seemed to not even get a reaction. Plus he couldn’t get enough force behind it since the alien was pretty close, he was hanging, and the wall behind him wasn’t helping. 

 

He expected to go through being blacked out again, since that’s what happened last time the alien touched him. Instead, he felt all the fight leave his body. It wasn’t like last time, Frank was well awake and just paralyzed before, this felt more like the early bits of being sedated. Like when he had a tooth worked on. He felt very calm, suddenly possibly sleepy.    
  
The alien’s hand didn’t move from the side of his face, but his tentacles slowly brought him lower, so his feet were flat on the ground. The one on his mouth moved to wrap around his waist, helping him stay propped up against the wall. Frank tried to move, but everything felt so sluggish.

  
_Relax your mind and body._   
  
Frank’s eyes widened slightly, great now there are voices in his head.   
  
_Not voices, just me._  
  
Frank looked back to the alien’s face, he was staring back at him knowingly.

 

_ I’m not here to harm you. _

 

If Frank could snort, he would. He tried thinking back to it.   
  
**_Yeah, right._ **

_ I need you to cooperate with me. _ _   
_ **_Listen, I’m not cooperating with shit. Let me go._ ** **_  
_ ** __ I’m afraid I can’t do that. You see you’re very important-

**_Am I Luke Skywalker?_ ** **_  
_ ** _ I don’t understand what that means, but what I’m trying to say is- _ _   
_ **_If I’m not some form of Skywalker, then I don’t care._ ** **_  
_ ** _ Stop interrupting me. It’s rude. _ _   
_ **_You know what else is rude? Kidnapping people._ ** **_  
_ ** _ Stop. I need you for research. _ _   
_ **_You’re not convincing me to be okay with being here. You know that, right?_ ** **__  
  
**

Frank smirked slightly as the alien let out a frustrated breath. Though he lost it when all three tentacles tightened slightly, which he took as a threat to shut up.

 

_ Please, just listen to me. I’ve been studying your planet for many cycles, however, I need to know more about it and particularly your species. I need a subject to study and to help me with said research. Now- _ _   
_ **_Wait, wait. Back up, why me?_ ** **_  
_ ** _ You happened to catch my interests, anyway, now I ne- _ _   
_ ****_Can’t you drop me back off and get a different kid?_

_ Quiet. I’ve already taken you and we’re currently traveling away from Earth. I’m afraid there’s no way off this ship. Now I’m asking you politely to cooperate with me _

**_How about no?_ ** **_  
_ ** _ Please. _

**_What do you even want with me? To experiment on? I don’t really feel like being tortured._ **

_ Of course not, that’s not what I’m asking.  _ _   
_ **_Then what do you want?_ ** **_  
_ ** _ I would like to create a psychic link, connecting your mind to mine and vice versa. _ _   
_ ****_So, you want to mind control me._

_ If I wished to have control over your mind, I would have done it already. A link would be different, it would allow me to see your thoughts, memories, and subconscious without needing a physical  connection. Like my hand on your face right now.  _ _   
_ **_And I know you’re not lying….how?_ **

_ I have no desire to control you, terrestrial. I only wish to learn. _ _   
_ **_Why not control me to let you do the link thing?_ ** **_  
_ ** __ It’s a very delicate and complicated process. Forcing it only raises the chances of you dying by about seventy percent. 

**_I still don’t believe you’re not planning on controlling me._ **

_ If I were to attempt to control you through your mind, first I would have to force my way into your subconscious, create a link, and then use it to make you do my wills. Seeing how you are now, I doubt you would comply. You’d have the ability to fight back, but seeing as your species hasn’t mastered this ability yet, you wouldn’t stand a chance. The harder you fight, the more it will hurt you physically and mentally. Eventually, if you kept on fighting it, you’d either snap your own mind and lose all sense of feeling, thought, will for anything, and so on or die. What use would I have with a subject that is either useless or dead? _

**_Oh._ ** **_  
  
_ **

Frank lifted his head a little, the original haze that had taken over his body wasn’t as strong as before. The alien was looking at him patiently, probably hoping to get his permission for the link whatever thing. Frank looked back at him, and gave him a tiny smile.   
  
Before spitting right in his face.   
  
“Go fuck yourself.” He snapped, falling to the floor since the Alien recoiled, along with its appendages, and wiped at his face. Frank’s legs were still a little weak, so that’s why he ended up on his ass now. The alien actually looked a little frantic, before calmly down and making a face at the spit that was now on his hand.   
  
Frank was busy giggling as he leaned against the wall.    
  
“That was a hell no, by the way.” Frank added, slowly moving to stand up, supporting himself on the wall. The alien gave him a hard look, looking honestly a little bit more like a pissed off child over a potentially deadly creature from space. 

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Gerard took a deep breath, trying not to freak out.   
  
But, by the galaxy, that was both rude and  _ extremely _ unsanitary.   
  
For a second he had thought maybe he was unaware of some sort of, acid saliva or something humans had. He wasn’t expecting a sudden attack by body fluid. He glared at the terrestrial, annoyed that this was so hard. Did he grab a potentially really difficult being, or is this how they all are on earth?

 

He watched as the human stood up. He was gonna need to be able to touch him again in order to communicate, but Gerard didn’t want to be anywhere near this terrestrial just in case. 

 

“You’re literally the worst alien thing ever, you know that?” The being said, and Gerard tilted his head.    
  
Has this human interacted with other aliens before? Maybe they were hostile, and that’s why he’s being difficult?

 

Gerard stepped closer, frowning when the terrestrial immediately became more alert, and obviously wary again.    
  
“Don’t you dare come near me.” He demanded, but Gerard reached forward anyway so he could gently set his hand on his face again.    
  
_ I’m sorry other beings have ruined your outlook on visitors, but I swear I’m not trying to do anything to harm you. _

 

“I haven’t met other ‘beings’ before, weirdo.”    
  
_ Then what did you mean I’m the worst alien. That implies that you’ve met others before. _ _   
_ __   
“Okay, lemme rephrase. What I’ve expected from aliens through movies and t.v. You do not match up.”   
  


_ I don’t follow. _ _   
_ _   
_ “Nevermind.” The human sighed, before crinkling his nose. “Do you really have to be touching my face? It’s weird and making me uncomfortable.”   
  
__ I need a physical connection in order to-

 

“Okay, then like, touch my hand or something. My face involves my personal bubble more than my fricken hand, dude.”

 

_ Oh, I apologize.  _ With that, Gerard moved his hand accordingly.  _ Better? _

 

“Sure, whatever.”

 

There was a few moments of silence between them, until Gerard realized something.

 

_ Oh, I forgot. What do your species call you? _

 

“Excuse me?”   
  
_ Your name, what is it? _

 

“Um, Frank. What’s yours? Or can I even pronounce it?” Frank asked, “Like, is it even-”

 

_ Gerard, well sort of. It’s longer than that, but I’ve made it easier to ‘pronounce.’  _

 

“Alright, cool. Gerard.” Frank tried the name and tried to think if that sounded like a name he’s heard before. All he could come up with was Gerald. 

 

_ No, Gerard. _

 

“I know that, I was just….nevermind.”

 

_ Frank is lovely. _

 

“It’s just a name, a pretty lame one. Who names their kid Frank anymore?” The teenager snorted, rolling his eyes. He paused for a couple seconds, “So… you’re claiming you’re not going to kill me and this is honestly the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. Am I having a very odd dream?”   
  
_ I’m afraid that this is all very real.  _

 

“Ah, well, in that case.” Frank trailed off and raised his free fist, ready to start fighting again, but Gerard was quick to stop it with a tentacle, pinning Frank’s wrist back to the wall.

 

_ Please don’t make me subdue you again. Also, I could see you thinking about doing that. _

 

“That is so unfair,” Frank huffed, as Gerard tightened his grip on the other hand. “Also, before you spout something about not wanting to hurt me again. I would like to point out that you kidnapped me, somehow knocked me out, then I woke up in this strange place, on a table, on able to move. I remember yelling at you and trying to get you to stop touching me and getting ignored.”

 

_ I admit that maybe trying to do a physical examination without permission was a bad idea, but I needed to make sure you were in good health for the psychic link and- _

 

“Which is still not happening.”

 

_ Why are you so resistant? _ Gerard moved their hands so Frank was once against pinned to the wall, tilting his head as he examined the human’s features closely. It was clear that Frank was uncomfortable, and Gerard didn’t understand why. He just wanted to learn more.    
  


“I’m not really fond of the idea of you have access to my brain. Why not, I don’t know, nab an earth scientist or something?” He asked, rambling. “I’m just some New Jersian teenager with a bad attitude who plays guitar and tries to make decent enough grades that my parents won’t make me quit trying to create garage bands. I like to drink under age and occasionally smoke pot, and more so cigarettes. Why me?”

 

Gerard mulled over it for a bit. Really it was a bit of a random choice, but he felt like that wasn’t the right thing to say. Also he barely understood half the things Frank just said, so he wasn’t sure what it all had to do with the situation but we was definitely getting negative vibes from the terrestrial, and that was not good.

 

_ I couldn’t take someone like that because I already know everything from a scientistic point of view through books, observation, and the internet thing you humans conveniently have.  _ Gerard started,  _ Also, you happened to be in the right place, at the right time. I believe you humans call this fate. _

 

Frank frowned at this, and Gerard was afraid he got the word wrong or something, until the younger shook his head.   
  
“Fate. Yeah right,” Frank snorted. “So, can you let go of me now?”


	4. Weird

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly just filler, I'm currently trying to pull through chapter 8 so I can update sooner.

Honestly, this entire situation that Frank was in, was very, very, very weird. 

 

For instance, this alien….Gerard, was really no threat. Frank had stopped trying to fight him, physically, cause it just ended with Gerard pinning his hands away and asking Frank very nicely to stop trying to hit him. 

 

Apparently that’s rude.

 

He let Frank have freedom to roam most of the ship, leaving a few doors open so he wasn’t just sitting in the room he woke up in before. Which was apparently now his. At least, that’s where he’s been sleeping and residing. 

 

It’s been a few days since the incident, Frank is guess like three, that’s how many times he’s gotten tired and gone to bed for ‘the night.’

 

After their conversation, Gerard had let go of Frank, save for his hand so they could continue to communicate. It’s kind of become code, one raises their hand and the other grabs it whenever one of them needs something. It was weird at first, if Frank’s honest. Cause he had actually been the first one to need something. 

 

Afterall, he had been on this ship for awhile, who knows, and being a male teenager. It wasn’t long until his need to eat became a problem. 

 

~Flashback~

 

Gerard had gone over a couple requests, asking Frank not to go breaking anything and he was allowed to explore. Granted some doors would remain closed at all times, simply because Gerard insisted they held either private things or were of no interest to the terrestrial. 

 

Frank had explored a little, but ended up back in ‘his’ room and stared out the window. Watching space go by at a sluggish pace, enough though he was sure it was like being in a plane. It may look like everything was going by slowly, but they were traveling at a much higher speed.

 

He was thinking about what happened now. He was stuck on this ship, with some nerd alien named Gerard, and there wasn’t any way for him to even attempt to escape or convince Gerard to let him go home. Frank basically accepted these facts, but he was worried. His parents and friends are probably all worried, plus now he was going to be missing school- which he was barely passing anyway, and he had no idea how long this would last. What if Gerard got bored of ‘studying’ him. 

 

Especially when Frank plans on refusing the psychic link thing for as long as possible. 

 

As he thought about these things, mulling over what life choice have possibly brought him here, there was a sudden disturbance in the room.    
  
His stomach growling.    
  
“Ugh,” Frank groaned, realizing that since he’s been on the ship, he hasn’t eaten. The last time had to be well before the school dance. The first thing he thought was that he was going to need to find Gerard. The second was a fleeting fear that the alien might not have anything edible. At least to him. 

 

Leaving the room, he made his way towards the ‘lab.’ Thankfully Frank had a pretty good 

directional memory, so he could straight to it. As he got closer to the hall that it resided in, his stomach let out a few more growls.    
  
“This is stupid.” Frank muttered, knocking on the door when he got to it. 

 

It shot open immediately, but Gerard was already walking back further into the room. Probably returning to whatever he was doing. Frank quickly followed in after him, but took noticed of the room. 

 

It was like a mix of what you’d expect and what you’d be disappointed with. There was test tubes and vials and whatever else filled with strange colored liquids, or some had objects floating in them. There was also plants that Frank had never seen before, plus some open books and papers and random items on the shelves and table tops surrounding the room. The middle had more metal tables, one was completely empty, the other one had papers all over it, one giant one taking over most of the surface. 

 

It also happened to be the table Gerard was now standing over as he studied the paper. Frank stepped in further, peaking at what he was looking it. It looked like a map, Frank didn’t understand anything on it or ‘where’ he was looking at, but it looked like Gerard did. He was tracing lines with his fingers and writing something down in a notepad to the side. 

 

Frank probably would have kept being nosey and trying to figure out what the map was for, but then his stomach growled again. Gerard didn’t even react. Frowning, Frank reached to tug on his sleeve.   
  
He really needs to ask why Gerard is wearing a tux.

 

Said alien paused in what he was doing and looked at Frank expectantly.

 

“Do you have like….food? I’m starving.” Frank asked, earning a head tilt in return before Gerard reached for his face.

 

Which Frank intercepted with his hand, and gave him a look of warning. 

 

_ Sorry, I forgot about your...personal bobble. _ __   
  


“Bubble, but continue.”   
  


_ I do have food, but none of it is from earth. I didn’t think to grab anything, I don’t know how your body will react to it. _ __   
  


“Well, that’s great. So now I get to die of hunger?”

 

_ I didn’t say that.  _ _   
_ __   
“Look, I just can’t have anything with milk or meat in it.”

 

_ Milk? Meat? _

 

“I’m vegetarian and allergic to lactose.”

 

_ Nothing I have should have this lactose, but I’m unsure what you mean by vegetarian. _

 

“Basically if it was a living, breathing, moving thing. I don’t want to eat it’s carcass. I eat plants basically.”

 

_ Oh, I understand.  _ Gerard seemed to paused, thinking it over.  _ I think I have something for you. Follow me.  _

 

He let go of Frank’s hand and exited the room. The teenager followed right after him. He barely paid any attention to where they were going, much more interested in the person- thing…..alien, in front of him. Frank tilted his head as he studied Gerard from behind. 

 

It seemed like his tentacles were kind of always moving before, but right now they were just hanging down, swinging slightly. It kind of reminded Frank of just having three extra arms, but not. They also seemed to be in a weird….position. There were two just below and possibly a bit to the side of where he guessed Gerard’s shoulder blades are or would be. The third one was just below the right one, a few inches or so between them. For some reason it bugged Frank, he mildly debated on rather or not there should be a fourth, on the left side. It would make more sense to him. 

 

Which brought his attention back to Gerard’s clothing. He swore that the suit he was wearing looked similar to the one he had on for homecoming. Which he was still in when Gerard abducted him. Except, Frank had to think about how most suits pretty much look the same, and Gerard’s was in different colors than his standard black and white. The blue complimented his also bluish skin, kind of. And the back had nearly perfectly holes for the extra appendages he had, there was no set tear and they seemed to fit through seamlessly. Like it was meant to have all those holes.

 

Frank wondered where and how he got it. Certainly there isn’t a race of aliens that just walk around in suit with tentacles. Then again, that could explain how the legend of Slenderman happened, but Gerard clearly has a face. 

 

Frank was too busy thinking about all these things to realize they walked into yet another room, until suddenly he was shivering. Taking more care in seeing his surroundings, he realized they had walked into what was essentially a walk in cooler. There were shelves upon shelves with packages and unidentifiable things. (At least to him)

 

Frank crossed his arms, trying to conserve some warmth while Gerard was looking through the shelves. The aliens tentacles were wrapped around his torso as well, and Frank found himself wishing for two extra arms.

 

Gerard looked over the things he had stored, reading a couple labels as he went. Obviously he had enough food stored in here to last him many, many cycles. Sometimes he didn’t go back to his home planet when he was supposed to and kept traveling. However, now he did have another mouth to feed, plus he had nothing from Frank’s planet. Not to mention he apparently has special requirements. This was a flaw in Gerard’s plan.

 

He debated between two items before just picking one, it was a meal made from mild plants and herbs from his own planet. Gerard just hoped it was enough for Frank and not somehow poisonous to him.

 

He looked behind him and noticed Frank looking at the shelves with curiosity. He also noticed that Frank was rubbing his arms and shivering slightly. Gerard frowned before remembering that humans were warm-blooded, and the cold did bother them. Plus, Frank was wearing some light clothing, and nothing on his feet. 

 

Gerard needed to read over the ingredients real quick, though. He figured the terrestrial could stand it a little while longer. Gerard himself was technically cold-blooded, and would be reacting much more if it wasn't  for his polymelia. His three appendages could actually produce more body heat when necessary, which is why they automatically wrapped around his body once they stepped into the storage unit. 

 

Really, he didn’t need all three, and even as Gerard thought about this, trying to concentrate more on making sure this package didn’t have anything it that could harm Frank. One of his melia ended up pulling away from his body, sometimes they did seem to move on their own. Gerard didn’t even notice it until his reading was suddenly interrupted.    
  
“What the hell?! Dude get off me.” Frank yelled, and Gerard felt something tug on his tentacle. Out of instinct, it only tightened, until he realized what it had gotten a hold of. 

 

The melia had wrapped itself around Frank’s waist, and the teenager was trying to pull it back off. He had been staring at something that looked like apples with a watermelon like pattern across the skin of them, when he was suddenly being grabbed. The tentacle actually pulled him back towards Gerard a couple steps before he started complaining and trying to get it off. 

 

Once Gerard realized what was happening, he immediately took full control and removed the appendage from the terrestrials body. He quickly reached out to get a hold of Frank’s hand to explain, but the teenager was quick to avoid him this time around. 

 

“Don’t touch me.” He snapped, keeping himself out of reach. 

 

Gerard frowned, he was just trying to explain what happened, but obviously Frank wasn’t in the mood to listen.

 

So instead he turned and went for the exit, figuring the human would at least follow. 

 

~end flashback~

 

The thing Gerard ended up ‘cooking’ if you could call pouring the contents of the bag into a bowl and then setting it into a box that clicked a few times before a bright light flashed and taking the bowl back out. Before it went in, it looked like it was full of things that kinda looked like leaves, and kinda looked like noodles. And they were tiny, and purple. Plus there was two solid, palm-size balls of something in the mix. When it came out, the balls were gone and everything looked a little bigger and fuller, also covered in some kind of sauce.

 

Frank was shocked for it to taste pretty good, though he wasn’t sure what to compare it to. 

 

He went with some kind of chinese but with a more sweet taste.

 

There was also the needing the bathroom incident and him feeling the need to shower ‘yesterday.’ Both very awkward conversations which luckily had really simple and quick outcomes. 

 

Yeah, this situation was weird. 


	5. Nerd Alien

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI I'M NOT DEAD.

When got to be what Frank was calling just over a week, he was about to go crazy. There was nothing to do here, he could only wander around aimlessly for so long, eat, and sleep before he got bored to the point that he was sure he was going to die from it. 

 

Not to mention he was really starting to miss home. He was spending less time exploring and messing with things in other room, and more time just staring into the depth of space through his window. Sometimes Frank sat right below it and just tilted his head back, wondering how far they were from Earth and if he was really never going to see home again. Other times he was laying on the pillow mattress thing, slipping in and out of sleep. There wasn’t much else to do. 

 

Gerard had noticed a definite change in the terrestrial. He was trying to leave him alone, wanting him to be comfortable before he started asking questions and poking at him again for research. Plus, Gerard had other things to do and figured that Frank was able to take care of himself. He was old enough to be left alone for a few cycles, right?

 

However, he was starting to see less and less of Frank wandering around. He was always in his room. His activity level had gone down, plus he hasn’t been eating as much. Gerard was worried that he may have been sick and started looking through his books but nothing really matched how Frank was acting. 

 

When it came to a day where Frank was literally hibernating at this point, Gerard was too worried to not say anything and the illnesses that he was looking up just didn’t fit. Some of them mention lethargy or feeling weak, but they had a bunch of other symptoms that Frank just didn’t show or have. So he decided to take matters into his own hands. 

 

After finishing up a couple things, Gerard grabbed his notes and an blank notebook he was planning on using for any data he got from Frank and made his way to the terrestrial’s room. Peeking his head in, Gerard felt his entire body sag from the sight of Frank sleeping,  _ again.  _ He must have been awake for maybe an hour before, Gerard heard him shuffle around. 

 

Walking up to the bed, he reached out to gently shake Frank. The teenager mumbled something and tried to turn away, still very much asleep, but Gerard grabbed his shoulder to keep him from doing that. Granted, he could probably force Frank awake, but didn’t really want to annoy or make him mad. Which was really easy. So, Gerard just shook him a little harder. 

 

“Wha?” Frank’s eyes blinked open and they focused on the alien almost immediately. “What do you want?” 

 

Gerard reached for Frank’s hand, immediately asking;

 

_ What illness has taken you? _

 

“What?” Frank sat up, rubbing his face. “Dude, I am too tired for your cryptic alien whatever shit.”   
  


_ You are clearly ill. You don’t move much and haven’t been eating. How are you sick? _

 

“I’m not sick.”   
  


_ But your activity level is low and you are not eating and- _

 

“I’m not sick, I’m  _ bored _ and  _ lonely. _ ” Frank explained. “I can only walk into so many rooms and poke around and shit I don’t understand so many times. There’s nothing on this ship to do, and I miss my friends and family. You know people need like, interaction, right?”

 

_ Oh…. _ Gerard said, and without even really thinking about it, one of his tentacles had grabbed his notebook, while the other started writing that down.  _ Why? _

 

“I don’t know, we’re social creatures I guess? Basically no interaction makes people...depressed I guess? And the one’s who don’t even want it are crazy sociopaths or something.” Frank shrugged, glaring at the tentacle that was scribbling something down. “Are you really writing this down right now?”   
  


_ It’s very important information.   _ Gerard insisted, before frowning.  _ Depressed. Depression...that’s why I couldn’t find any illnesses match, this is a mental sickness. _

 

“Yeah…” Frank rolled his eyes and went to lay back down, but Gerard squeezed his hand and started pulling him out of bed. 

 

_ Come to the lab with me. _

 

“Why?”   
  


_ You require company, and I need some questions answered. Plus there’s still the unfinished physical. _

 

“I don’t really feel like being interviewed and experimented on right now.” Frank deadpanned, annoyed that he was still being forced to stand and now walk as Gerard pulled him along. 

 

_ I’m not going to experiment on you. I’ve already told you this many times. _

 

“I still don’t believe you, funny how that works.”

 

_ I haven’t done anything to earn such distrust. _

 

“Are you kidding? You’re kidding right?”

 

Gerard didn’t bother answering, opening the door to his lab and continuing to pull Frank in behind him until it closed again and they were near the table in the center. He had let go of Frank’s hand and gestured towards the table before digging around some shelves. The teen figured he wanted him to sit on the table. Sighing, he did so, swinging his legs a bit as Gerard fiddled about, seeming to be searching through the shelves and cabinets for something. 

 

Finally the alien turned around, holding a book which he immediately started flipping through the pages, seeming to be reading them at a ridiculously fast pace. Frank tilted his head, and tried to read the title of said book. It was a developmental psychology book, and immediately the human cringed. There was no way this alien was going to try to be his therapist or something now, right? 

 

Gerard held out his hand suddenly, looking at Frank with a determined look. He hesitantly took it. 

 

_ This says that interaction is important.  _ Gerard stated, frowning at Frank.

 

“Didn’t I just say that?” Frank asked, feeling his shoulders sag.   
  


_ But this book tells me why.  _  Gerard insisted, eyes widening a bit.  _ It says that humans needs interaction to support mental and physical health! How could I overlook this? Why didn’t you tell me? _

 

“It’s not like I could-” Frank went to say, but Gerard’s voice spilled into his head again. 

 

_ This is why you should allow me to set up the mental link. I would have known by now, and fixed it. Now you’re depressed! _

 

“I don’t think you understand what you’re saying right now.” Frank sighed, earning a distasteful look. “I’m not suddenly horribly depressed from a few days of isolation. Like, okay…. yes, I  _ am _ lonely and bored, but that could easily be fixed if you take me back home! You can’t fix this with some kind of science-y thing.”

 

_ But I can fix it. We just need to interact more. _

 

“I don’t really want to interact with you.”

 

_ It could be very enlightening.  _

 

“I don’t care.”

 

_ We could learn so much! _

 

“Do you know what the word ‘fun’ means? Cause that’s not it.” Frank snorted, shaking his head. Only he would get stuck with a nerd alien kidnapping him.    
  
_ I heard that. What does that mean? _

 

“You….” Frank groaned, realizing that Gerard heard his thoughts about him being a ‘nerd.’ “It’s nothing.”

 

_ No it’s something. It’s negative, right? Some sort of insult? Are all terrestrials on Earth this rude? _

 

“Nope, just me. You really picked a great specimen, nerd.”   
  


_ I don’t like that word, stop saying it.  _ Gerard demanded, his face scrunching up a little. Honestly, all it did was make Frank let out a small laugh. Which in turn, made Gerard do that weird half-smile thing he still hasn’t mastered yet. Eyes wide and a little overly joyous just from the sound of the human laughing.  _ You’re happy again! _

 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Frank shook his head, but still had a small smile. “Anyway, what were your plans of ‘interacting’? 

 

_ I was thinking you could spend your time in here with me instead of your room so much. I could use an extra hand sometimes. Besides, humans are not the only ones to get lonely. _

 

“Like you need anymore….appendages. I was curious though, why are you the only one running this ship?”

 

_ I chose to live this life. This is not a typical way of living for my people. _

 

“What is then?”   
  


_ We usually stick to our own planets. _

 

“Planets? Wait, you guys live on more than one planet?” Frank asked, eyes wide. Gerard nodded, shrugging. “Dude! That’s so cool, how does your society manage to run on different planets? Are they close together? What if you wanna move to a different one? And-”

 

_ Calm down, it’s not that impressive. And no, the planets aren’t very close, there are five of them all together. The main planet, and the….ones we sort of took over. _

 

“Took over? So you  _ do _ invade other planets. You know I don’t have like, Earth government information to help you with, right?”

 

_ We don’t do it anymore. Five planets is enough to look after.  _ Gerard let out a breath,  _ Plus, I’m not a warrior. I’m a scientist. And yes, for the hundredth time, you can believe me. _

 

“Okay, so say you’re telling the truth. Then why not have other scientists around?”

 

Gerard didn’t say anything, but his eyes did turn a light shade of a blue momentarily before going back to normal. 

 

_ I think that’s enough about me. I need to make a profile on you, will you answer my questions? _

 

“If I feel like it, I guess.” 

 

_ Let’s start with basics, how old are you? Human years wise of course… _


	6. Decisions, Decisions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo, I dedicate this chapter to Ribbon, Ella, and Same. Eyyyyyyy
> 
> I know I suck at updating. 
> 
> Enjoy.

Frank hated to admit it, but he was feeling a little better spending time around Gerard. As much as he wanted to keep being a sarcastic asshole towards the alien, he made it so hard to be. Frank could insult him, ignore him, and be difficult all he wanted, and Gerard would either politely ask him to stop or just give him a slightly hurt look. It was impossible to keep being a little shit.

 

They mostly spent time talk about Frank, sometimes he managed to get a few of his questions answered but it seemed like when he wanted to know more about Gerard’s planet, his people, or why he’s alone on this ship, the Alien cuts him off. 

 

Sometimes he also got to help with research and experiments, if holding tools and once in awhile passing something over to Gerard counted as ‘helping out.’

 

At night though, Frank found himself still staying up. Still thinking about home and his family and friends. They must all be worried sick, probably have the police looking for him. The only problem is he wasn’t even in New Jersey anymore, let alone in town. He wasn’t in the country, the continent…..   
  
He wasn’t even on the damn planet. It was all going to be futile for them, and a few more weeks they’re gonna think he’s dead. His poor mom is gonna have a heart attack. Who knows how his best friend, Ray, will take it. He’s such a happy, go-lucky guy. That’s why Frank likes him, perfect counterpart to Frank’s punk ass. He’d hate to see that guy fall into a pit of depression. 

 

These were the things running through Frank’s mind, as he laid on the bed. He was so focused on his thoughts that he almost missed the door to his room opening. His eyes snapped forward, seeing Gerard walking in and look at him with concern. 

 

How the heck did he know Frank was still awake?

 

“What do you want now, dude?” Frank asked, sitting up slowly and rest his arms on his knees. “I’m trying to sleep.”

 

Gerard scrunched his face up, clearly thinking of something before walking up to Frank. Arm stretched out to him and his hand open. Frank sighed and reached forward to take it once he was close enough. This speaking through handholding and mind fuckery is getting old.

 

_ It wouldn’t have to be this way if you let me connect us. _ Gerard started with, earning a sharp glare from Frank. Which was enough to make Gerard look away from the teens face quickly, feeling a little bad for saying it like that.  _ Anyway, why are you not resting still? Are you still unhappy? _

 

“What kind of stupid question is that?”

 

_ You were showing improvement, what happened? Did I do something? _

 

“You being friendly and letting me ‘hang out’ in your lab doesn’t change the fact that you kidnapped me from my friends and family you know.” Frank sighed, feeling a headache forming already. “Sure, it’s kinda cool. Maybe even fun, but we can’t do that all the time and when I have time to sit here and think, all I’m doing is missing the people I love. Why don’t you get that?”

 

_ It’s hard for me to understand… _   
  
“I thought you were a scientist?”

 

_ I am, I do research and try, but… affection and ‘relationships’ aren’t viewed positively in my society. It’s one thing I find so fascinating about yours, but I can’t say I know how it feels. Nor how it feels to lose ones you ‘love’ because that’s not an emotion I’m familiar with.  _

 

“So you have no idea what I’m really going through.” Frank stated, letting his shoulders sag. “And your planet doesn’t do ‘relationships’? So no connection with family? Friends?”   
  
_ Family is more of an obligation. You respect and support each other….to an extent. As for friends, no. We don’t do ‘friendship,’ it’s distracting. _

 

“Your species sucks.” The human snorted, shaking his head before realizing something. “Wait, that means-”   
  
_ Yes, I was not trying to necessarily befriend you when offering to help you get out of your sickness. But I was hoping, that maybe, through regular interaction I would begin to understand what it means and feels like to be ‘friends.’ So far, there isn’t very much data. _ __   
  


Frank just looked at him, not really having anything to say. It’s not like he could really explain what relationships, platonic or otherwise, really are like in that great of detail. Certainly not the feeling of it either.

 

_ Which is why I want the link. _   
  
“I’m sorry what?” Frank asked, blinking. He was zoning out a little there.   
  
_ I don’t think you understand what the link could do. _

 

“Let you see into mind 24/7 and annoy the shit out of me more than you are now?”   
  
_ It also allows me to feel what you feel. Yes, I’d be able to read your thoughts and see memories and so on, but I would also always be connected to you. And you to me. It can go both ways, it would take practice on your part. This is a normal ability for my species, so it’s easier for me….but I would be willing to try and teach you as well. I can help you learn to see my thoughts, to feel my emotions as well. Even to block me from your mind if you ever needed to. I can’t do much more than that, but it’s better than nothing. _

 

Frank looked up at Gerard, he honestly looked so sincere. He started to consider it, and then let go of Gerard’s hand, and pushed himself away from the alien. He needed to think, and having someone invading his thoughts as he did so wouldn’t help. 

 

“Let me….let me think about it.” Frank said, “Just leave me alone for a bit.”   
  
Gerard stared at him in confusion, and his hand twitched a little. Like he wanted to say something to Frank first, but he decided against it and withdrawled. With a short nod, he moved to leave the room. Pausing at the door way to look at Frank once more, but the teen wasn’t paying him any mind. His eyes had traveled back to the window. 

 

As soon as Gerard was gone, Frank thought over what he had said about the link. It seems like that’s the alien’s main goal. It’s not like he hasn’t continuously asked since Frank has gotten here. Often trying to assure him that it has nothing to do with mind control, that it was safe, and really in Frank’s best interests along with Gerard’s if the human was to stay with him for an indefinite amount of time.

 

But this is the first time Gerard had finally open up a little, given Frank a little more detail. More information, something that finally explained a little bit more about why Gerard acts the way he does. Frank has taken his own mental notes about the alien, for the most part his face is almost always set in stone, except when we was talking to or looking at Frank. When he was reading, experimenting, whatever else, it was just blank. It wasn’t even like a resting face, it was just...void.    
  
There was more things he noticed beyond how Gerard acted. When Frank would ramble about home life. He talked about the people he knew, including more than just his friends and family. He spoke of teachers, workers at local shops he went to, neighbors… While Gerard, often just said ‘his people, society, or species.’ It was never his personal family, his friends (which apparently don’t exist.) Other...whatevers, that he personally knew. 

 

Then there was the link itself, Frank was willing to believe it wasn’t for enslavement. However, he just didn’t like the thought of someone being in his head. Frank had negative thoughts  _ before _ being on the ship. It wasn’t anything new, and it was things he wanted to keep to himself. Not to mention that if Gerard could hear him all the time, he would know every thought Frank had and he’s only human. Humans had weird thoughts, and he didn’t feel like having any embarrassing moment happen because of it. Plus, Frank was into privacy. He didn’t want everything to be laid out for the alien all the time. That just….wasn’t fair. 

 

But, the idea of it going both ways. That he could see what Gerard thinks, could learn some neat mind tricks of his own. To be able to gain privacy once in awhile. Turn it off.    
  
Was he really considering this though? Was it worth it? Honestly, when Frank thinks about it, he doesn’t gain much out of the deal. It’s not like he wants...needs this link like Gerard does. He needed something out of this as well…   
  
And that’s when an idea struck him, causing Frank to break into a potentially devious smile.

Perfect. 

 


	7. Friend or Foe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyyy guess who's back.  
> Back again.  
> Guess who's back.  
> Okay I'm done.
> 
> Anyway, I finally finished chapter 8 (and working on 9 cause otherwise 8 was gonna be SOOOOO LONG) And I wanna say thank you for all the comments so far, and I'm sorry for not really answering questions, but I don't wanna spoil anything or they're gonna be answered real soon. I love hearing about how this story is good-weird. That's what I'm going for eyy.
> 
> Also a friend of mine made some great art for this, but what they drew so far is a scene from something that's gonna be brought MUCH later in the story. So, I thought I'd ask. Do you guys wanna see it now, or later when it's more relevant? Cause any questions that arise from it will probably not be answered. Lemme know.
> 
> Anyway, thanks again! xoxfrn

“Gerard?” Frank called when he had gotten up and started looking for the alien. “Hello?”

 

He headed towards the lab first, since that was usually the place to find the alien. He peeked in and found that the room was empty. Frank frowned, doing a quick glance over the room. Maybe he woke up earlier than usual? He’s honestly never seen Gerard not awake, not since he got here. It was a little odd. 

 

“Hmm,” He hummed and walked further down the hall. He went to the ‘kitchen,’ aka where Gerard usually gets food for them. It was a room attached to the giant fridge, with devices for cooking and a table with stools. He stepped inside and found it to be empty as well. Letting out a huff, he went back into the halls and started yelling again. 

 

“Gerard? Where are you?” He didn’t really know how big this ship was, he had a feeling it was a lot more complicated than the area he got to be in. Considering he’s seen many other doors he wasn’t allowed in and there was a couple time Gerard said he couldn’t go a certain way. ‘For his safety.’

 

The teen continued to roam around and was starting to get frustrated when the last room, which was just an empty space really, he checked was….well empty. He was ready to start yelling again when something gripped his shoulder, which in turn caused a yelp to come out as he spun around. 

 

“Jesus fucking Christ, you scared me.” Frank complained once he saw that it was just Gerard. Who was wet for some reason. Also no wearing the suit anymore, he looked more similarly dressed to Frank now. With a tighter shirt. “Why are you wet and where have you been?”

 

Gerard reached for Frank’s hand, seeming to be unbothered by Frank’s attitude. He was probably used to it at this point. 

 

_ It was time for me to take care of some personal hygiene. What did you need? _

 

“Okay one, gross.” Frank crinkled his nose. Gerard basically just admitted to not showering this whole time. Not that he like, smelled, before but it was just weird to know. “Secondly, I wanted to continue our talk from yesterday.”

 

_ Ah yes, you said you needed to think. Have you decided yet? _ _   
_ __   
“Yeah,” Frank nodded, “I’ll do it. However, I have a condition.”

 

_ A….condition? _

 

“Basically something I want in return for going along with this.” Frank said, and Gerard nodded. Urging him to continue. “I want to be able to go home.”

 

Gerard frowned deeply for a few moments before speaking, his hold on Frank’s hand getting a little tighter. 

 

_ I already told you many times that I cannot send you back. _

 

“I don’t mean permanently, I just want to be able to visit. I’ll make up some lie to my parents, but I want to see them and my friends and-”   
  
_ No. _

 

Gerard let go of Frank’s hand and turned to walk away, but Frank followed after him.   
  
“What the fuck do you mean ‘no’? Why not! I just agreed to do that stupid link thing and travel the universe with you even though I don’t even want to. All I ask is that you let me see the people I love, which I get is a hard concept for you but this is literally going to  _ kill _ me.” Frank ranted at him, but Gerard just sped up and ignored him, not even looking back. “Hey! Don’t ignore me you jackass!”

 

Frank grabbed at Gerard’s shirt, giving it a hard yank causing the alien to stumble back a little. Gerard turned back at him, his face screwed up into what Frank would describe as a snarl, but there was hissing noise coming from his mouth. The teen quickly backed off, staring up at the alien. Gerard’s eyes had gone completely black and his tentacles were poised behind him ready to attack. 

 

Just as quickly as he had turned on Frank, Gerard went back to normal and quickly walked off. Frank stayed stunned in the hall watching him disappear around the corner and stayed in place for a few more moments before he just scurried off to his room. 

 

Frank didn’t understand what had just happened. Not only first time that Gerard had shown any form of aggression towards him, but he honestly thought the alien would be okay with his idea. He didn’t think he would reject it so bluntly. Not to mention the way he just started to walk away seemed….so unlike Gerard. At least, what Frank thought he was like. 

 

Maybe it’s all been a ruse after all? Maybe Gerard wanted Frank to agree willingly ‘cause it was true that he needed permission to do it properly, but in the end it was just to control Frank to do whatever the alien wanted. That he was brought on to be a slave and the alien just been pretending to be patient and kind to trick him?

 

“I fucking knew it.” Frank muttered under his breath, curled up in the corner of his bed. He did, he  _ knew  _ it all along. This was all bullshit and he was going to either end up as some space freak’s slave or dead. His life was over- it’s been over.

 

For the first time since Frank got here, he felt utterly hopeless. Now that it was confirmed that he would never see his parents, his friends, his home….nothing. He wasn’t going to subject himself to a life of servitude, which meant Gerard would eventually dispose of him. Curling further into himself, Frank felt a rise of panic in his chest. 

 

It hurt, it hurt so much but he couldn’t stop it. It’s been months since he’s has a panic attack, but he figured this one was pretty justified. He could feel himself shaking and tears roll down his cheeks, but otherwise he was silent. He let the world crash around him, his breath becoming uneven, sporadic and it was like he was choking on the air. Frank tried to suck in a proper breath but ended up coughing, leaning back against the wall and letting out small sobs.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~

 

Gerard locked himself in his Unit, quickly shutting the door behind him before leaning against it. Trying to calm himself. He did not know what came over him just now, and now he was beginning to regret it.

 

Gerard prided himself on not being as impulsive and cruel as his people could be. He even kept what is his usual, more threatening form under wraps. Especially now that he had company aboard the ship. Company that he now just scared the living lights out of.

 

The alien felt his shoulders sag, as he realized now Frank would probably become difficult again. He knew that Frank missed home, he understood it, sort of, but Gerard refused to take him back now. The terrestial’s promises of it being ‘temporary’ had to be empty. Gerard was sure the teen would run to the nearest authoritative figure and try to reveal Gerard’s existence. Run away from him. The alien didn’t want that.

 

The alien looked up to his plain ceiling, even though that was all factual. There was more to it. 

 

He found himself thinking about when he started to get truly upset by the ‘deal’ the teen was trying to make. 

 

It all started when he thought,  _ I don’t want to hime to leave. _

  
He didn’t want Frank to leave, he didn’t like the idea of no longer having him around. He was….endearing, even when Frank was being rude. Gerard has spent many cycles alone in space, but now he was sure he could never go back to that. The very idea of the human being gone for any amount of time made Gerard feel some sort of weird not-pain and he didn’t like it. 

 

He didn’t know why he felt it, it was probably some weird emotion or quirk he was picking up from dipping into Frank’s mind so often through their conversations. 

 

But that was no excuse for how he acted, how he had scared Frank so carelessly. Closing his eyes, Gerard let out a long breath and stopped his breathing for a few moments before he sucked in suddenly. He needed to apologize. 

 

The alien decided to wait for good ten minutes, being sure his head was clear and he was in control. He slowly made his way back towards where he left Frank, but when he was within his earshot of the boy’s room. He heard a strange noise. 

 

He paused, listening closer and realized it sounded like Frank was suffocating. There was short gasps and weird whimpers coming from down the hall. Gerard felt his eyes widening and next thing he knew, he was running down to Frank’s room. 

 

Sliding to a stop as he passed through the doorway, Gerard found Frank curled up in the corner of his bed. His entire body seem to be shaking and his eyes were closed. Gerard got closer and saw the tears streaming down his face and the alien almost started to panic himself. He knew what that meant, it was called crying. He knew people did it when they were sad, and occasionally when they were happy. 

 

Frank definitely didn’t look happy.

 

The alien came closer, reaching out to figure out what exactly Frank was thinking, feeling. He didn’t know why he was shaking so hard or crying, honestly he was expecting to be yelled at the moment he walked in, but the teen hasn’t even noticed he was here yet. He had to crawl onto the bed to reach, but the second there was a dip in the cushion, Frank’s eyes shot open and he flinched away from Gerard, pressing himself against the wall.   
  
“G-go awa-ay.” Frank stuttered out, trying to wipe his eyes but keep an eye on the alien. He wasn’t ready, he couldn’t die now.   
  
Gerard blinked, looking concerned, but Frank knew it was bullshit. Which is why when he reached for him, Frank smacked his hand away and kicked a leg out.    
  
“Fuck o-off.” He demanded, but Gerard kept trying to get near him. 

 

The teen kept pushing and hitting the alien away, but it ended like it always did. With Frank being held back by tentacles and Gerard doing what he wanted anyway. It was a little awkward, considering thanks to them being on a bed. Frank ended up with his hands pinned against the wall while Gerard was basically straddling his legs. With a determined look on his face, he set his hand against Frank face. 

 

The teen flinched and closed his eyes, his thoughts were a jumble of  _ this is it, good bye world, I’m so dead.  _

 

Frank didn’t hear anything, he took that as a bad sign since usually Gerard would start spouting out words the second there was skin on skin contact. He waited for the inevitable, ready for the end to happen. There was the feeling of another hand on the other side of his face. 

 

_ He’s gonna snap my neck,  _ Frank thought and just hoped it would be quick and mostly painless.

 

He waited.

 

And waited.   
  
And nothing happened.

 

Frank slowly opened his eyes, staring into the Gerard’s currently blue eyes as the alien stared at him with a pained expression. Frank scrunched his eyebrows together, confused as to why he wasn’t dead yet and why Gerard looked so upset. His eyes were such a light shade of blue, a color Frank hadn’t seen before in the alien’s eyes. Next thing he knew, those eyes were closed and the taller of the two pressed his forehead against Frank’s, tentacles pulling away and letting the teen’s arms drop limply to his sides while Gerard kept hold of his face.

 

_ I could never hurt you. _

 

The voice, Gerard’s voice, in Frank’s head was so quiet. So sad sounding. Like Gerard couldn’t believe the thoughts and feelings he was reading from the teen. 

 

_ I’m sorry for scaring you and being so brutish. I don’t know what came over me, but it was unacceptable and I hope you can forgive me. I swear upon the stars that I wish you no ill will, I would never forgive myself if I did such horrible things.  _

 

**_You seemed...so different for a moment._ **

 

_ I was… put off by your proposition. I thought you were trying to trick me into bringing you home so you could run away. I overreacted.  _

 

Frank didn’t respond back, just closing his eyes again. He was still wary and honestly just wanted to be left alone. However, it didn’t seem like that was going to happen at the moment. Gerard hadn’t moved away yet, even though neither were really saying anything. Frank was sure the alien could hear and feel any thoughts he was currently having, not that there was much he could do about it. 

 

The teen found himself thinking about how the option of possibly running away once they got to earth didn’t even cross his mind before. He just wanted to be able to see his friends and family, to let them know he was alive. He missed them so much, the ache of not seeing them so long never really left despite that he had grown more accustomed to this new life in space. 

 

_ Okay. _

 

“Wh-what?” Frank spoke voice sounding loud to ears.    
  


_ Your condition. I accept. _

 

“But… you-”

 

_ I can feel how much it hurts you when you think about home. I don’t like it.  _

 

“You’ll let me visit home?”

 

_ If you’ll let me into your world. _


	8. A Link to the Past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes the title of this chapter is a Zelda reference. Fight me. 
> 
> Also the chapter after this? Y'all are gonna freak. 
> 
> Enjoy this one though xox

“So, how does this work?”   
  


Frank and Gerard had a long talk on how exactly this was going to go. They had argued over what was going to come first, traveling to Earth or creating the link between them. Frank was still wary of letting Gerard into his head. Especially before he got a chance to see home. It would be easy for the alien to simply not take him once he got what he wanted. However, Gerard had been insisted that he had other business to attend, that all he was asking for was some trust. He also managed to use those stupid blue, sad looking eyes and it won Frank over in the end. 

 

They were currently sitting on Frank’s bed, days after they had the conflict over Frank’s request to be able to visit home. They had decided to wait on creating the link. Gerard had been worried about Frank’s well-being, he even got a little annoying with the constant asking on if the teen was alright or not. Gerard was holding onto Frank’s hands in his own and he seemed to be thinking about what was the best way to do this.

 

_ Well, it’s a bit of a process. Which will require both of us to cooperate and concentrate. It’s a different experience for each species from what I can understand. I’ve never done it so- _

 

“Wait, you’ve never done this? Do you even know what you’re doing?”   
  


_ Everyone in my society is taught this, it’s a…. Battle strategy. However, it’s going to be different in another way. Your species is closer to the complexity that my people have, and you’re willing. I’m not quite sure what will happen. I just know that it will be safer as long as you’re truly accepting me into your mind.  _

 

“Alright, well….let’s get started?” Frank offered hesitantly.

 

_ Well...there is something more we may need to do. _

 

“What now?” Frank asked, “I know we needed no distractions and to be comfortable, hence why we’re in my empty room, on my bed. What else is there?”   
  


_ As you know, currently I need a physical connection in order to communicate. Due to this process requiring a much higher mental connection to set up the bond and make it permanent, we may need to be closer. _

 

“You mean you need to have more than just your hands on me?” Frank asked, frowning. “Listen, that’s a little odd.”

_ I know you have your personal bubble thing, but we may need to break it just this once.  _

 

“And how do you suggest we do this?” 

 

_ Well, I’m not to sure. I was thinking maybe just being able to wrap my polymelia around you as well, but- _ _   
_ __   
“You’re what?”

 

_ These,  _ Gerard explained, moving his tentacles towards Frank slightly,  _ whatever you’ve been calling them is incorrect.  _

 

“Ah, well, I guess...whatever.” Frank sighed, “You can do that, if you think that will help.”

 

_ I do. Are you sure you’re ready? We could wait and- _

 

“You’ve been bothering me with this for weeks, and we still have put it off due to arguing and such when I finally agreed. Don’t offer me a way to back out now.”

 

_ If you insist. _ _   
_ __   
Gerard’s appendages moved again, two wrapped themselves around and up Frank’s arms, the odd third one went for ihis waist. The teen was little uncomfortable by the all the limbs, but stayed still. He waited to see what would happen next.

 

_ Okay, close your eyes before we begin. We’re both going to be pulled into your mind, and you’re gonna have to let me into the deepest parts of your mind. It might be….ood. But your eyes will become unfocused and it will be a distraction. And try to be less tense. _

 

Frank nodded and slowly closed his eyes, trying to stay relaxed. For a few seconds, there was nothing. Then, it was like he was he was being pulled, but he knew he physically wasn’t being moved at all. One moment his vision was just the usual off black of his eyelids, then it was like he was in a blank space, everything suddenly becoming white. 

 

“Frank?” Gerard’s voice called and he turned to see him there, smiling. Frank startled, surprised that he just actually heard the alien speak. Like, outloud.   
“You just talked…”   
“Not really,” He said, his mouth was moving though, “It’s different here.”

“Where are we?”   
“Your head, think of something. Create a space for us, right now it’s all pretty vague.” He suggested, making Frank scrunch up his face trying to figure out how to do that. 

 

He thought about living room, back home on earth. As he thought about the details, the space around him began to fill. There was the stained, tan couch. The end table always full of his mom’s magazines. The pictures on the wall, the carpet, everything. He almost expected one of his parents to walk into the room.

 

Gerard looked around in awe, going up and poking at things like the lamp or t.v.   
  
“This is interesting, where are we?” He asked, picking up a magazine. The cover was unrecognizable and the pages blank. Frank didn’t know what they really looked like, so they weren’t as complete as the rest of the room.    
  
“My house, the uh, livingroom.” Frank explained, wondering if he could turn on the t.v. He couldn’t.   
“Livingroom?”   
“It’s like, mutual space? A lounge? Just where families hang out?” Frank tried to explain. “Like how your lab is with us.”   
“Ahh…” Gerard said, but Frank could tell he didn’t really get it. “Alright, well, we need to go deeper into your mind.”   
“Deeper?”   
“Yeah, like…” Gerard seemed to search for the right way to put this. “I’m not sure how this works to be honest, this is new for me too.”   
“Really?” Frank said, looking at him.    
“I know the basics!” Gerard amended. “But, no one...nothing has done this willingly and I’ve never had to do this. It isn’t part of my choice.”   
“Um, alright.” The teen sighed. “What do you think we should do?”   
“Well, I’m supposed to somehow plant a...connection here, but I need to make sure it’s deep in your mind?”   
“So, what, should we just start taking a trip down memory road?”   
“I mean, it’s more than your memories but...maybe we should begin there. Lead the way.” 

 

Gerard said, gesturing to the only doorway in the room. Frank could see his front door, but something told him it didn’t open. Which meant they either went down the hall towards the bedrooms, which looked dark and uninviting, versus the way to the kitchen that was lit up, and almost glowing. He nodded and headed that way, leading the alien through the doorway.

 

They walk into a scene that Frank remember from a few years ago. His fourteenth birthday, his friends and parents wishing him happy birthday. He watched the scene unfold as everyone sang and younger Frank was bouncing in his seat, clearly unable to contain his excitement. He watched the memory with a fond smile, nearly jumping when Gerard spoke up.

 

“What sort of ceremony is this?” He asked   
“It’s a party, a birthday party.”   
“Ah yes, you celebrate the day of your births on earth. Why is there fire?” He asked, watching young Frank blow out the candles as everyone finished singing. “And the chant seem simple.”   
“Honestly, I wish I had a straight answer for those, but I don’t. The birthday song is just a song people sing, and it actually gets weird the older you get to have people sing to you. The candles are like, usually there’s as many as the age you’re turning? Or in the form of the number. You blow out the flame and make a wish.”   
“Ahh, why?”   
“Cause why not?” Frank shook his head as his mom started cutting the cake. “The cake is also just a special thing for your birthday, before you ask. Just a nice treat, I guess. Mine is always some kind of plain cake with a fruit jelly thing my mom makes on top. Cause of my lactose intolerance and refusal to eat meat.”    
“Interesting, but we should move on.” Gerard said, “This isn’t what we need. Take us further.”   
“Yes sir, Mr. Bossy Pants.” Frank snorted and looked around. There was two ways through this, up the stairs was lit up, the usual spot for the outside doors was just a wall in this memory, and then there was the basement. Which was dark and Frank actually felt a weird chill when he looked at it. “We’re going upstairs, I guess.”   
  
He took the alien’s hand, before he could start questioning what the colorful boxes were as presents were coming out. They headed up the stairs and Frank only saw his room door, so that’s where they went. Upon opening it, they walked in on an even younger Frank, probably about seven or eight, with an over-sized guitar. He was listening to Green Day, Basket Case to be specific. He was listening and attempting to copy the notes. 

 

“What in the world are you doing here?” Gerard asked, bringing his hands up to cover his ears. “It sounds weird.”   
“It’s music, it’s  _ good _ music.” Frank scolded. “And I was learning guitar, well, I knew how to play. I was trying to learn how to play music I liked over basics.” He explained.    
“Well, it’s weird.” The alien insisted, and scrunched his face more when a more angry song came on. “This isn’t right either, are you sure this is the best way?”   
“How the hell would I know? I was eight here, maybe we need like my first memory?”    
“Let’s just go.”   
“I’m gonna make you like this music, I swear as soon as we get to Earth.” He laughed.

 

The teen looked around, there was only one way to go and that was his closet apparently. However, he definitely didn’t want to. The aura from it was almost worst than the basement from earlier. He looked behind them and tapped Gerard.    
  
“Let’s go back,” He suggested.    
“Wait, what about that door.” He asked, making the teen shake his head.    
“That way looks like a bad idea, let’s head back.”   
“No, that seems right.”

 

Frank was gonna argue, but the alien walked away without him, heading for the closet. He was ready to wait there and hope Gerard came back, but it was like there was a rope around him dragging his with the alien out of nowhere when he started walking into the darkness. Frank whined as he was also forced to step into it. It was like walking through a thick fog in the dead of night. Pitch black, cold, and somehow the air was moist and if there was any more water in it, he’d be drowning. They walked for awhile, Frank barely able to see Gerard’s silhouette. 

 

Slowly the darkness melted away, and they were in Frank’s school. He could recognize the lockers, but the hall was abandoned. Frank was confused as to what was going on, cause Gerard was suddenly gone, but before he knew what was going on, there was a yell.   
  
“There’s that emo faggot!” Someone yelled. Frank looked to his right, seeing some former bullies from when he was in Freshman year. He looked around looking for the memory of himself, but there was no one else there.

 

That’s when he realized they were looking right at him.  _ Running _ towards him. 

 

“Wait, what’s going-” He asked, stepping back but they weren’t paying attention to a word he was saying.    
  
So, he bolted. He ran from them, just like he used to years ago. Before they graduated and he figured out how to throw a solid right hook. He didn’t know what was going on, what kind of nightmare this was but when someone grabbed his hoodie, (when did he get a  _ hoodie? _ ) he just  _ knew.  _   
  
He knew what happened next.    
  
“This has got to be the tiniest freshman I have ever seen!”    
  
Frank cold practically mouth the next words.    
  
_ I’ve always wanted to shove someone in a locker.  _   
  
Frank struggled, he did back then too, but they managed to pry some poor soul’s locker open and press him into it. The door was forced shut, there was the sound of cheers and highfives and then Frank was alone. He remembered trying to move, which he did now. He remember being unable to breathe, and sure enough his chest was starting to hurt. 

 

The area was too small, the area was getting  _ smaller _ . Frank was gonna dye in this school locker from suffocating. It was too dark, too tight. He could get out, hell he couldn’t move. Frank closed his eyes and wanted to cry as he remembered this is where he passed out when he was younger. Alone and cramped in a locker, how whoever owned the metal deathtrap opening it to find a kid falling out of it. Everyone thought he was dead for a solid five minutes before a teacher came to see the commotion. 

 

But now he wasn’t passing out, he was just  _ suffering _ through the memory. This is what triggered his fear of closed spaces. He got claustrophobic now because some assholes decided it was fun to literally force someone into a locker like a bad teen show. He wanted to yell for Gerard, for help, but he was frozen. How long would he be stuck here? They shouldn’t have gone that way, he knew it. This was such a  _ bad _ idea.    
  
“Frank!” Frank opened his eyes again to see that he wasn’t in the locker. He was on the floor of the hall. “Frank!? Hello? Are you okay?”

 

Gerard was standing over him, looking scared and concerned. Frank sat there for a moment, looking up at him in confusion. His heart was still beating rapidly, his breathing irregular.    
  
“What...what happened?” He asked, and Gerard helped him off the ground.   
“I don’t know. You were here, but then you started running from these boys and I followed. Trying to help but you couldn’t hear me. Or see me, I think?” He asked, and Frank nodded. “I watched them push you into the closet thing, and I couldn’t get you out. Another memory person finally did but then you didn’t wake up till now. They all just disappeared suddenly and you woke up.”   
  
“Oh…” Frank blinked. “Yeah, that...that happened my first week in high school. It was the first time I was in public school.”

“It was terrifying to watch.” Gerard said, looking horrified.    
“Try living through it.” Frank snapped at him. “I told you going through that closet was a bad idea.”   
“Well…” Gerard started, and Frank gave him a glare.    
“Well, what?”   
“I think...we’re going the right way still.”   
“What?”   
“This is what I need to see.”   
“Me being shoved in lockers?” Frank asked disbelievingly.   
“Your fears, lowest points.” Gerard explained. “These are more personal, something you try to hide.”   
“So, I have to live through my  _ worst _ memories for this? Fuck that, get me out of here.” Frank demanded. Gerard shook his head.    
“Please, Frank, we should be close now.”   
“No, I am not suffering for you. Fuck that.”   
“Don’t you want to go home?” 

 

Frank paused on possibly yelling at him, ready to fight his way out of his own head, but that question stopped him in his track. He forgot about that...and he couldn’t believe this.   
  
“You mean you seriously won’t let me visit home  _ unless _ I do this?” He asked, and Gerard’s face went passive.    
“Yes.”   
“You’re gonna force me to do this?”   
“I’m not forcing you to do anything.”   
“You’re not going to take me home otherwise!”   
“This is true.” Gerard said plainly, with no emotion. 

 

Frank clenched his fist, glaring at him. He didn’t understand why he was suddenly being such a prick.    
  
“You’re serious right now. You’re actually serious.” He said accusingly.   
“That was our agreement.”   
“Easy for you to say, you aren’t living through this!”   
“It hurts to watch…” Gerard said, composure softening a little.   
“That’s not the same thing and you fucking know it!”   
  
The two of them stood in the hallway for a while, Frank glaring at the alien who was staring back with a slightly determined look on his face. Frank and him stayed put for a couple minutes until the earthling finally broke. 

  
“Fine.”   



	9. Fear Itself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes you can all hate me, I've been busy with school and haven't written anything beyond this chapter buuuuuut I wanted to update so y'all could see this.
> 
> Things are about to get interesting.
> 
> Thanks for reading <3

Frank looked around, there was some lit up classrooms, he was really annoyed by this but the sooner they got it over with the better. He just couldn’t believe that Gerard was making him do this, but at the same time, it was to be expected. Kind of. 

 

“That way.” Gerard interrupted, pointing further down the hallway. Frank looked in the direction and filled with dread at how the hall just cut off into cloudy darkness. “Come on.”   
  
Gerard started walking, not even waiting to see if Frank was following him. Not that it would matter if he tried to stay put., considering what happened last time. He followed behind him, closing his eyes until there was light against his eyelids. Looking around for the next scene, and really, it looked like a normal room. Just a plain, simple white room. It didn’t even look familiar.    
  
“The hell?” Frank mumbled, this wasn’t a memory. He looked around for his alien companion and he was once again gone from the scene.    
  
He was about to start yelling for Gerard, cause this wasn’t working anymore she he caught sight of a black speck on the wall. It came out of nowhere, and as he walked towards it, there started to be more speck. Bigger ones.  _ Moving _ specks.    
  
That’s when Frank went pale and stopped trying to inspect the strange occurance.

 

_ They were fucking spiders _ .

 

That realization seemed to open up a hell pit of the eight-legged fiends cause they went from maybe tens to hundreds in the matter of seconds and they were  _ everywhere _ and getting closer to where Frank was still in the middle of the room. He wanted to run from this, but everywhere he looked more and more stupid, tiny, evil creatures were crawling towards him. 

 

When they started crawling on him, Frank desperately tried to shake them off. He swiped at his arms and kicked his legs, as some point he fell over and was rolling on the floor screaming. He closed his eyes, feeling them crawl on him,  _ bite _ him. It fucking hurt and he swore some were in his mouth, maybe his ears? Were they gonna eat him alive? 

 

Right as he was sure he was doomed, on his way to certain death by spiders, his shoulders were being shaken.    
  
“Frank, Frank wake up.” Gerard called and Frank opened his eyes, finding himself lying flat on the ground and staring up at a knelt Gerard who was hovering over him. “It wasn’t real.”   
  
“It...but..” Frank slowly sat up and looked down at himself and around the blank room they were in. There wasn’t any spiders, he didn’t even have any marks. The only damage he could find was that his head hurt. “What happened?”   
  
“I’m not sure, we walked in here and you suddenly started screaming and convulsing.” Gerard stated. “You didn’t respond to me trying to wake you for approximately five minutes.”

 

“Oh... “ Frank rubbed his head, trying to get rid of the dull ache. “Did I hit my head?”   
“Not that I could see.”    
“It hurts.”   
“Oh, that’s probably from all,” Gerard gestured all around them, “this.”   
“Can we stop? I don’t think I can take much more.” Frank groaned.   
“No. We’re close.”   
“How do you know?”   
“I just do, also look.” Gerard slowly stood. “There’s nowhere else to go.”   
  
Frank blinked and took a look around again. There really was nowhere to go, there wasn’t even any doors or a way out. Just… a plain room. It sort of looked familiar the more he looked at it. Well, if they were at the end, then why were they still here? Doesn’t that mean it’s over with? The link is made?   
  
“There’s nowhere to go.” Gerard repeated, prompting Frank to look at him.    
  
And what he saw made his heart almost stop.    
Gerard…. Didn’t look like himself anymore. The usually almost human-looking blue alien was now covered in spikes, eyes completely black and he even looked a little… taller? Bigger?  _ More beastly? _ His hands had claws, he looked like was covered in skin tight armor around where the spikes protruded from his body. He had four tentacles instead of three, all much thicker and longer than before and sort of ominously moving behind him. His gaze was fixed on Frank, and it didn’t look friendly.    
  
“Ger-” Frank tried to say his name, but he was interrupted by this...this  _ thing. _

 

“There’s nowhere to go….and nowhere to escape.”   
  
Everything sort of happened all at once. Frank got to his feet and Gerard- the monster thing tried to lunge at him. All the teen could focus in was the  _ fucking _ spikes, and how he  _ did not _ want any of that near him. He didn’t feel like being impaled today. Or tomorrow.  _ Or ever quite frankly.  _ He barely dodged the monster, thankfully, but it turned back to him immediately. It was making that hissing sound that Gerard made the other day, glaring at him and Frank didn’t know what to do. There was literally  _ no escape _ and unless he can magically start busting down walls, he was fucked. 

 

With a snarl, the thing charged again, and Frank attempted to sidestep him again, but he forgot about the  _ stupid _ tentacles. He avoided the giant, spike mass of the best but there was a strong, thick tentacle wrapped around his right leg and he went down like he was nothing when it pull.    
  
“Ow, shit.” Frank tried kicking it off, scrambling backwards- well, he wasn’t getting very far. “Let go, let go!”   
  


The thing only growled and yanked him closer, reaching to grab Frank by his upper arms, claws digging into his flesh as he pressed him against a wall.    
  
“No escape.”   
  
Frank whimpered, trying to wriggle free to no avail. He was terrified, sure, probably close to shitting his pants. He wasn’t sure what was next, but he didn’t want to find out. His eyes closed, and he couldn’t help but wonder how things went so wrong. How did Gerard turn into...into this  _ thing? _ He’s never seen anything like it, and it certainly couldn’t be part of his own nightmares. His Gerard never looked like that, he did-

 

Wait.

  
He’s never seen this.   
  
_ His Gerard. _ __   
_   
_ This wasn’t even  __ real .

 

Frank opened his eyes and couldn’t help but recoil when he saw the monster again but nothing was happening. He also noticed those supposed claws digging into him didn’t even hurt.    
  
“G-gerard?” He questioned.    
“Frank?” It replied, but it didn’t sound menacing. It’s- his, voice was normal again.   
“You don’t look like you.” Frank told it.   
“I don’t?”    
  
Seeing a monster confused is officially the weirdest thing Frank has ever seen. He slowly shook his head.    
  
“What do you see?” Frank asked, the creature barely moved, it  _ looked  _ like it was ready to possibly rip him to shreds, but the voice and facial expressions didn’t match that sort of intent. 

 

“You’ve been yelling at me, I thought it was just another memory or fear.” Gerard paused, “What do you see?”   
  
“Um...you’re kind of…” Frank wasn’t sure how to explain it. “It looks like you’re attacking me- or going to.”   
“I’m not even touching you.” Gerard said, confused.    
  
And just like that, Frank was released and the beast took a step back.    
  
“You’re covered in spikes.” Frank stated.   
“I am not.”    
  
Now the spikes were gone.    
  
“This is so weird, dude.” Frank chuckled nervously. “Somehow you seem...bigger?”   
“I haven’t changed at all.”   
“And your eyes are black.”   
“They shouldn’t be.”

 

Frank let out a breath of relief when normal Gerard was in front of him again. He never wanted to see something like that again, whatever it was.    
  
“Frank are you okay?” Gerard asked, concern clear on his face.    
“Yeah,” Frank answered, and before he could think better of it, he pressed himself against the alien in a loose hug. “I’m just glad you’re you again.”   
“I’ve always been me?” Gerard sounded confused, and wasn’t hugging him back. “Um, what...what is going on? What are you doing?”   
“It’s called hugging, you’re supposed to hug me back.”   
“Like...like this?” Gerard asked, mimicking the way Frank was holding him.    
“Yeah.”   
“What’s this for?”   
“Um,” Frank pulled away slightly. “It’s like, a show of affection? It can be platonic or romantic, depend on the people and how they’re hugging?”   
“There’s different ways to do...this?” Gerard asked, looking between them.   
“Yeah, sometimes they're like this, or tighter. Sometimes people kiss, or hold each other for a long time.” Frank explained, pulling away. “People do it as a greeting too, like with close friends. Or to comfort each other, sometimes when people haven’t seen each other in a long time they’ll just… you know hold each other for awhile. Reconnect I guess? There’s a lot of ways to hug.”   
“Oh.”    
  
Gerard seemed to think about it more, his face scrunching like it usually does when he’s trying to understand something. After a moment or two, he held out his arms again.    
  
“Can we do it again?” He asked, very seriously. It was almost funny.   
“Sure.” Frank smiled and hugged him again. 

 

He thought Gerard just wanted the same thing, but the alien held him tighter than before, one arm around his waist and the other sort of bend upwards, his hand resting against Frank’s head to press it against his chest. There was also more weight on Frank’s shoulders and he realized that their was tentacles, or polymelia, as Gerard called them.

 

“Um,” Frank went to speak, but Gerard talked over him.   
“This is… nice.” he stated, holding on even tighter and even resting his chin on top of Frank’s head. “I like this...hugging.”   
“You don’t get much affection on your planet, do you?”   
“Not at all.” Gerard sighed, voice sounding a little disappointed.    
  
Frank frowned and decided to just hold Gerard back just as tightly.    
  
“Well, hugs are cool.” Frank shrugged as best as he could with all the limbs around him. “Just lemme know if you want one.”

“Really?”   
“Really.”   
  
Gerard smiled, happy to be able to experience this. He didn’t want to let go, not any time soon anyway. People on his planet were never this close to each other, save for maybe when it’s time to reproduce and even then it’s all stoic and not for any sort of personal pleasure. This...this feeling… it was new and interesting and he liked it a lot. It felt like… like a connection between them.   
  
Right as he thought that, the two began to glow and Frank yelped at the sudden change.    
  
“What’s going on?” He asked, trying to pull away but Gerard just held onto him.   
“Wait, I think,” Gerard said, “I think… it’s happening?”   
“What’s happening?”   
“The link.”   
  
Gerard looked at them, his body was radiating a blue glow, which he’s never seen or experienced before. He had no idea what it meant. However, looking at Frank, the terrestrial was glowing red. The teen was clearly just as confused, so he didn’t know what was going on either. Gerard noticed the glows seemed to be flowing together, mingling. He watched as the parts of them that were touching began to change to a different color- violet? Maybe more commonly known as purple on Earth. The new color spread until they were both the same purple color.    
  
“Is this? Are we?” Frank asked and Gerard slowly let go of him and the glow started to fade.    
  
As did the room, everything was slowly disappearing.    
  
“Frank, open your eyes.” Gerard called, opening his own- physically. In the real world, his ship, and looking at where Frank was sitting in front of him.   
  
The teen slowly opened their eyes, blinking a little at they readjusted to looking at the physical world.    
  
“Did it work?” He asked, and Gerard tried speaking to him once he removed his melia and such away from Frank. Being sure they weren’t touching.    
  
_ Did it?  _ He replied and earned a huge smile in return.    
  
Frank had heard him. 


End file.
